The Tragic Life of Hinata Hyuuga
by Ausir
Summary: The story so far: Hinata has finally confessed to Naruto. This makes her father furious, since he wants Hinata to marry Neji instead. For the their own protection, Tsunade is forced to send Naruto and Hinata away from Konoha. AU, NaruXHina. DISCONTINUED!
1. Chapter 1

I read through this fic some days ago (I do it to remind myself of the plot) and found that, it didn't suck, but it wasn't that good either. So, here's the revised version of TTLoHH, and if you've already read the previous version, you don't have to read this one, since the plot is much the same. I have just added a couple of scenes, shortened some and elongated some others.

By the way, this fic is an AU and starts of during the filler arc, sometime after the bikouchuu mission, and then diverges to form a new story line.

Disclaimer: Guess what, I don't own it.

_The Tragic Life of Hyuuga Hinata _

_By Ausir_

_Chapter 1_

Hiashi Hyuga, undisputed leader of the Hyuga clan, was sitting in a meditative position in one of the countless rooms of the Hyuga mansion. Even though Hiashi was in his best years, he still knew that he wouldn't live forever. The reason for his deep pondering was therefore the very crucial question of who would succeed him once he was gone.

By tradition, Hinata, as his oldest child, would become head of the clan; however, Hiashi was strongly opposed to this. His eldest daughter was much too weak to in his opinion. Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi, would have become a far better leader, and their cousin Neji would have exceeded them both. Alas, there was no way to make any of those two his successor.

Yet suddenly he remembered a paragraph in the Hyuga law, which he had studied in his younger days. Hiashi immediately ordered a branch member to go and fetch the scroll in question; he had to make sure. But should the scroll contain what he remembered, it would solve all of his problems.

When the servant had returned with the scroll and excused himself, Hiashi began to furiously read through the ancient manuscript until he found what he sought.

'_There it is!'_ he cheered _'the law which states that the husband of a female clan leader will automatically receive clan leadership once they are married!'_

Hiashi smiled. This would indeed save the clan, and to think that some of the elders had wanted the law removed in favour of 'greater equality between the sexes', ha!

A few months ago, Hiashi would have had great doubts about being able to pull of getting the two cousins to exchange vows. Even though he could have bluntly forced them to, a certain amount of mutual feelings were required to produce the next generation. However, since Hinata and Neji had lately become visibly friendlier towards each other, that didn't bother the scheming clan head very much.

Since he had been reading well into the small hours of the night, Hiashi decided to postpone the announcement of Hinata and Neji's wedding to the next morning. Thus, the leader of the Hyuga clan went to bed and slept very well that night, content with the knowledge that he had been able to change the fate of his clan for the better.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

In another part of the Hyuga complex, the young Hinata was having one of her worst nightmares ever.

She dreamt of finding the courage to confess to 'Naruto-kun', a fairly reoccurring theme in her dreamscape. Yet, as she was about to, her dream shifted, and in place of Konoha's number one hyperactive ninja and the soft pink background was her cousin Neji surrounded by black smoke. He was wearing the same expression as he had during the chuunin exams, the one of loathing and murderous intent. Hinata spun around in search of Naruto or anyone else who could help her.

The only other person present however was her father, with the all too familiar grim expression on his face. He would call her a failure, a disgrace and a weakling, until the poor girl fell into tears. That was the point which dream-Neji decided to begin his merciless attack, and this time Hinata was all alone.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The following morning Hinata was sitting in her room doing a little early reading in a scroll concerning medical jutsu. She had become interested in the subject when she had seen Sakura perform a few and wanted to try it out, although it proved quite difficult. Hinata was so much into her reading that she became quite startled when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Hinata-sama" came the voice of a servant "Your father wishes to have a talk with you" Hinata was immediately put on edge.

The last time her father had wanted to 'have a talk' he had chewed her out for her extremely poor performance during missions, openly asked all the kami why they had cursed him with such a weak daughter _and_ proven his point by delivering a painful juuken to her chest. Hinata winced at the memory. That had _not_ been one of her better days.

She put down the scroll on the floor and quickly got dressed. Once she was finished she began to walk towards her father's chamber with _very _hesitant steps. She stopped right in front of the door and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It didn't work. After a few minutes of repeated deep-breaths she finally managed to muster what seemed to be enough courage and timidly announced her presence.

"F-father s-sent for m-me" She almost peed her pants when Hiashi told her she had permission to enter. Taking one last breath and bracing herself, she carefully opened the door and entered.

"Good morning Hinata, you look tired, did you not sleep well?" His unforeseen greeting nearly made Hinata faint from relief; he wouldn't ask her if she had slept well if he was going to chew her out, right?

"A-ano… I-I had a b-bad dream, F-father, I had problems sleeping afterwards" Hiashi looked as if he could have cared less.

"I see" he said simply in a tone hinting that he could have cared less "however you should try to sleep better from now on, for there will soon be a very important event which you need to attend" Hinata looked quizzical.

"E-event, Father?" she asked.

"Why of course" Hiashi said with the faintest smile "It wouldn't look good for a bride to look tired on her wedding, now, would it?"

"What do you mean Tousan?" The shock from knowing she was about to get _married_ effectively rid her of her stuttering, at least temporarily.

"Don't worry my daughter; I would _never_ let you marry a complete stranger" he said reassuringly "in fact, your husband- to-be is someone you have known for years and one I know you have grown to become very fond of" Hinata's heart skipped a beat.

'_Could he be talking about Naruto-kun?'_ she thought.

"And I know as a fact that he likes you quite a bit also" Hiashi continued.

"P-please T-tousan, tell me who it is!" Hinata pleaded, unable to float around in her sea of uncertainty any longer. Once again Hiashi smiled.

"I would have thought you had worked that out already" he said, with his smile now growing mischievous "but if you really don't know then I guess I will have to tell you" he made a pause for dramatic effect.

"Your future husband will be…" Hinata held her breath "…your cousin, Neji-kun"

'_Neji-niisan?'_ Hinata's mind was in shock. _'But… but he's my COUSIN! I can't marry him; he's like a brother to me!"_

On the outside the young girl still looked calm and collected; however, her mind had by now fallen into complete chaos.

"_It's Naruto-kun I love! Its HIM I want to marry, not Neji!"_ she had to make use of extreme self control not to break into tears then and there.

Hinata knew however that she wouldn't have any say in this matter and that arguing with her father would be a lost cause. After all, he _did_ have the authority to make her marry whomever he saw fit. Hinata could feel the control of her unfazed façade beginning to crumble.

"M-may I be e-excused, T-tousan?" she asked. Hiashi seemed to think this over for a few seconds before he nodded.

Hinata thankfully got to her feet, surprised that they would still carry her, and with bow accompanied by a barely audible "E-excuse me", she left. She quickly walked back to her own room, and once she had closed the door behind her she fell down on the floor and began to cry her heart out.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Several hours later, the tears had run dry, though Hinata was still crying in her heart. She snuck out of the Hyuga mansion, unable to find peace within its confining walls, and into the main streets of Konohgakure. She wanted, no, _needed_ someone to talk to. Sadly, her number of confidants was depressingly low, and she wouldn't resort to talking to any of the other Hyugas.

'_They'd just be taking father's side on this'_ she thought grimly. _'Wait! What about Neji-niisan?'_ Hinata felt the cold hand of paranoia grabbing for her mind.

'_He couldn't want this, right?'_ she franticly shook her head; trying to shake away the suspicions _'No of course not, he likes Tenten-san'_ Hinata knew this for a fact.

It had been quite a few weeks ago, Neji had been watching Hinata practice her Shugohakke, and suddenly he asked her what it felt like to be in love. Hinata had become so surprised that she lost her control of the chakra laser and almost struck herself down.

When Neji repeated his inquiry Hinata had told him, while stuttering and blushing furiously, of how she herself felt each time she thought about Naruto. After her rather messy explanation (she had jumped around from topic to topic and back again), Neji had closed his eyes and given a short nod.

"I see" he had said "I believe then that I might be in love with… Tenten" he had said the name with a slightly softer tone of voice.

Hinata had at first been greatly surprised by her cousin's sudden display of… well, emotion, but then she began to giggle. Her cousin had been a little confused by this, but when Hinata explained that they, in some respects, weren't really that different, Neji had smiled as well. The two had become closer friends after that small conversation. They had even taken up to giving each other advice on how to approach the ones who held their respective hearts. As a result, Hinata had also become good friends with Tenten.

Actually, when she recalled these events they gave Hinata an idea. Why couldn't she talk to Tenten? At least it would be worth a shot. Hinata tried to remember where Tenten lived and began to walk in that general direction.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"An arranged marriage, Hiashi-sama?" Neji gave his uncle an inquiring look. They were both sitting on the floor in Hiashi's chambers, where Neji had been called a few minutes prior. The Hyuga clan leader nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Neji-kun"

"May I ask with whom?" Neji ventured. Hiashi gave a smile which to Neji seemed more intimidating than reassuring.

"Your bride shall be my eldest daughter, Hinata" Neji flinched unnoticeably.

"With all due respect, Hiashi-sama, I am not sure that would be one of the best decisions" Hiashi's smile faded.

"Why is that, Neji-kun?" Even though Hiashi's byakugan wasn't activated, Neji could feel his eyes prying into his very soul. Neji stood his ground.

"It would not be proper for a branch family member to marry one from the main family, Hiashi-sama" Hiashi seemed to think this over.

"Besides" Neji continued "I am sure Hinata–sama would have objections of her own against us exchanging vows" By the mentioning of his eldest daughter, the clan leader's face darkened considerably.

"I am quite confident that there will be no objections from my daughter" he said in a voice which implied that if there _where_ objections, they would be duly ignored. Then Hiashi's smile returned.

"Why so hesitant, Neji-kun" he asked "You care for Hinata, I know as much"

"Yes, but…" _'Just not like THAT' _His uncle continued to smile.

"And this arrangement would be _most_ favourable for_ you_, Neji-kun" Hiashi had decided to play his trump card.

"Favorable?" Neji was clearly confused.

"Oh, yes, Neji-kun. Not only would _you_ eventually succeed _me_ as leader of the Hyuga clan, but you would also be considered a _main family member_, in other words…" Hiashi left the implications hanging.

'_I would be… free'_ the offer hung like a golden apple before Neji's inner eyes.

Even though Neji was far better at controlling his thoughts than his cousin, inner turmoil was still beginning to brew. Could he betray Hinata-sama like that, betray her trust in him, her love for Naruto. Betray her… and _Tenten_… just to be rid of that cursed seal?

"I will give you time to consider this, Neji-kun" Hiashi graciously offered, he knew that with time, the prospect of ridding himself of the seal would drive Neji to make the right decision.

The young genius nodded, got to his feet and after giving his clan leader a deep bow, went out of the room.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Neji quickly walked towards the gardens of the Hyuga mansion to find a place to sort his mind out. He eventually found a nice spot near a small water spring, and went to sit down in a tailoring position. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'_I can't believe I'm actually considering this' _he thought in self disgust _'You pulled a really dirty trick back there, dear uncle'_

It made Neji furious that his uncle had tried to manipulate him so. Indeed if it hadn't been for Hiashi's power over him, Neji would probably have punched the clan leader in the face. And even if he was quite unable to beat his leader into changing opinion, Neji would try his best to get the arrangement abolished.

'_Hinata-sama is my future clan leader, and my friend, I could never let her life be ruined in such a way' _he sighed _'And I couldn't bare to never get to be with Tenten either' _

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After about forty minutes of searching and, occasionally, asking the way, Hinata now stood in front of Tenten's door. She timidly knocked a few times. The door was shortly opened by a middle aged lady in a kimono and buns on her head similar to Tenten's. Hinata's courage faltered a little.

"Yes, what may I help you with?" the lady asked, smiling nicely at Hinata.

"A-ano, excuse me b-but I was w-wondering if T-tenten is home?" The lady, presumably Tenten's mother, shock her head

"I'm sorry, dear, she left on a mission some days ago, and I can't really tell when she's coming back"

"I see…" Hinata hung her head in resignation.

"Oh, but don't worry, dear" the nice lady comforted her "I'm sure she'll be back in a few weeks"

'_Hooray, she'd be just in time for the ceremony then' _Hinata thought glumly.

"It doesn't matter" the lavender eyed girl said "I'm sorry I disturbed you"

Hinata gave the lady a quick bow and began to walk away. Tenten's mother watched as the young Hyuga girl disappeared down the street.

'_Such a sweet child'_ she thought _'I wonder what could be bothering her so'_

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Shizune was walking through the corridors of the Hokage's mansion towards Tsunade's office carrying a fresh pile of forms and mission requests. Yesterday she had spotted a bare spot on Tsunade's desk.

'_She must've finally begun to take some responsibility for her work'_ she thought happily.

For Shizune, this meant that the Hokage wouldn't force her already over worked attendant to do the work for her. When said attendant neared the door to her boss' office, she heard that the Fifth was arguing furiously with another all too familiar voice, namely the one belonging to Konoha's number one hyperactive ninja. The two were in fact so loud that Shizune, and probably half of the village as well, was able to overhear the exchange.

"Ne, ne, Tsunade-obaachan, do you have any missions for me yet!"

"For the last time, Naruto, NO!" Tsunade roared "Why don't you go of and train or something!" Shizune let out a heavy sigh.

'_Those two are like brother and sister'_ she thought.

"Awww, but it's no fun training all alone, baachan" Naruto whined.

"I don't care! Just leave _me_ alone! And stop calling me baachan!"

"Fine then, I'll go over to old man Ichiruka's"

The door opened and slightly grumpy Naruto walked out past Shizune towards the stairs leading down, his hands laid to rest behind his neck. Shizune carefully ventured a peak into her boss' office.

"Shizune!" She stepped to attention. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples "I need a drink, do some paperwork for me, please while I go and fetch some sake" The Hokage stepped out, leaving her assistant with the mountain of paperwork.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After her failure to find and talk to Tenten, Hinata returned to her brooding and aimless walking. Beside the bun-haired girl, she didn't really know any of the other girls, Sakura and Ino, other than what was written in the information sheets. No, she couldn't talk to any of them, but who else was there? The answer came down as suddenly and unexpected as lightning from a clear sky.

'_Kurenai-sensei!'_

Hinata mentally kicked herself for not thinking of her team leader from the beginning. Kurenai knew of Hinata's crush on Naruto and would surely be able to give her some advice. Indeed, the red eyed jounin had often tried to encourage Hinata to tell the blonde nin about her feelings. Filled with new hope Hinata headed for the training grounds. She knew that Kurenai would probably be there with Shino and Kiba.

This time around, Hinata found who she was looking for. Kurenai was presently occupied with overseeing a sparring taijutsu match between her two other pupils. Hinata politely stood and watched as her team mates had their mock battle. Initially, Kiba and Shino's fight was fairly even; however, once Kiba noticed Hinata's presence, his moves became slightly more exaggerated and aggressive. This ultimately led him to defeat by the hands of the cool and calculating Shino.

"What happened Kiba?" Kurenai scolded him "You were doing just fine until just a minute ago!" Kiba rubbed his neck in embarrassment

"I, um… well… the thing is…" his eyes only flickered once in Hinata's direction.

"He got distracted" Shino stated laconically. No-one knew except him, but Shino's lips had curled ever so slightly upwards, forming a knowing smile hidden beneath his coat. Kurenai sighed and rubbed her temples

"Kiba, had this been a real fight, you would have been dead by now, you need to focus more" She turned to Hinata, as if noticing her just then.

"Hi, Hinata, here to train?" she chirped happily.

"Um, no" Hinata began to pock her index fingers together in her standard fidgeting stance "a-actually I was wondering if I c-could t-talk to you a-about something, sensei"

"Hmm? Talk about what, Hinata?" Hinata blushed and shoot a glance at her team mates.

"A-ano… I'd rather t-talk to you alone, s-sensei" there was a pleading look in her lavender eyes. Kurenai got the hint and nodded

"Ok, just a sec Hinata" she turned to Kiba and Shino.

"You two can train for yourselves while I talk with Hinata" Both teens nodded in acknowledgement.

While Kiba and Shino began to viciously attack a party of unsuspecting logs and target marks, Kurenai led Hinata a bit into the forest. When they were sure that they could talk privately, Kurenai spoke.

"So, Hinata, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Since it was only the two, Hinata seemed to be a little less nervous, although it wasn't much.

"Sensei, I…" she inhaled deeply "…I'm… g-getting married" Kurenai totally misunderstood.

"Oh, Hinata, that's wonderful!" Kurenai gave her pupil a big hug "It's with Naruto, isn't it? So you finally confessed! Although I think it's to rush things a bit, and you're only thirteen but…" She stopped when she heard Hinata sniffling.

"Hinata? What's the matter? Shouldn't you be happy you're getting married?" by those words Hinata wailed as if she had been mortally wounded and fell to the ground, crying even more than she had that morning.

"It's… It's not Naruto I'm marrying!" she howled "f-father h-has arranged a-a marriage… with Neji!

Kurenai had become as shocked by the news as she was by Hinata's sudden outburst. She soon found herself however and went down on her knees to try to comfort her crying pupil. She let Hinata cry onto her lap while she stroked her blue hair and made soothing sounds. Hinata's howls slowly quieted down into sobs and she lifted her tear streaked face to look at her teacher.

"I… I f-feel s-so helpless" she said "a-at this rate… I would n-n-never be able to t-tell N-naruto-kun h-how I f-feel about him" Once again she collapsed into her sensei's lap.

"What are you going to do about it?" Kurenai asked and stood up. Hinata's sniffling stopped and the blue haired girl gave her teacher a bewildered look.

"W-what do you mean, sensei?" she asked, still sitting on the forest floor. Hinata's meek inquiry made the red eyed woman angry.

"Dammit Hinata!" she shouted "You're not just going to let this happen are you?"

"B-but what c-could I d-do, sensei?" Hinata answered with her eyes downcast. Kurenai's voice became a little less stern.

"The first thing you should do is what you should have done long ago, just_ tell_ Naruto about how you feel, if you don't, you'll regret it for the rest of your life"

"I-I'll try, s-sensei…"

"Promise?" Kurenai gave her pupil an inquiring look.

"I p-promise" Hinata said. Satisfied by the answer, her teacher nodded.

"Good, then I'll go talk to Hokage-sama, she might be able to convince your father to cancel the marriage" Hinata began to shed new tears, this time out of joy.

"Thank you, sensei!"

Kurenai smiled "Now, now, stop crying, Hinata, go wash your face and start looking for Naruto" Hinata wiped away the last tears on her face and nodded.

"H-hai!" she went to do what her teacher had said.

Kurenai watched as her pupil disappeared towards the village.

'_Just be honest, Hinata, be honest and everything will work out all right'_

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hinata had gone searching for a nearby creek to wash her face in. She didn't want to go home because she was afraid that her father might suspect something. The creek had been easy to find and she felt quite refreshed after splashing its cool water in her face. Finding Naruto however, proved to be a lot harder for. Hinata had checked Ichiruka _twice_, even been over at Naruto's apartment and knocked on his door, although she had almost fainted when she did. But she seemed to be completely out of luck. Hinata was about to give up when she heard a voice from right behind her.

"Hey, Hinata!"

She yelped and jumped several feet straight into the air. She soon recognised the voice however and turned around to see: "N-naruto-kun!"

"Ah, sorry if I scared you Hinata!" The blonde ninja gave her a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head apologetically.

"No, i-it's o-okay, N-naruto-kun" Naruto seemed to come to think of something.

"Say, are you doing anything?" he asked.

"Ah, um, no, I don't" she said shyly while pocking her fingers together _'Stop being so nervous already!'_ she scolded herself.

"Great! Would you like to join me then?" Naruto flashed his foxy grin.

"Huh?" Hinata blinked _'Wait, did he just ask me what I think he asked?'_

"Would you like to train with me? No-one else seems to have any time" Hinata deflated a bit.

'_Oh, he didn't ask me out then…'_ she mentally kicked herself _'stop moping Hinata! You should be able to talk to him while we train'_

Seeing as Hinata seemed to be a bit unsure, Naruto's smile faded into a slightly disappointed one, since he thought she was being reluctant.

"Ah, it's okay if you don't feel up to it, Hinata, I'll just go training by myself" Naruto was used to doing that, although he didn't like it all that much. It reminded him of when he barely had any friends at all. Naruto turned to leave.

That immediately brought Hinata back from her thoughts.

"W-wait, Naruto-kun… um… I r-really would like to t-train with you!" Naruto lit up like the sun.

"Great! Let's go then!" the blonde nin grabbed Hinata's arm and began to run towards the training grounds.

'_Naruto-kun is holding me!'_ Hinata thought blissfully as she tried to keep up while desperately fighting against the urge to faint. Even though Naruto only held her by her arm Hinata couldn't be happier.

Unnoticed by both teens, were a pair of cold white eyes, the property of a little girl with long black hair. They followed the duo until they came out of sight, then they and their owner vanished into the shadows.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hinata had intended to confess to Naruto while they were training, however this proved quite impossible. The main reason was that there simply wasn't any time; Naruto really deserved the title of number one hyperactive ninja. As soon as they were done with kunai throwing, Naruto wanted to go on with taijutsu training, and once they were done with _that_ he wanted to train chakra control. Hinata became quite dizzy from Naruto's seemingly endless energy.

'_Naruto-kun has got really great stamina' _she thought admiringly, and instantly blushed when the thought led her into some steamy fantasies. _'Kyaaaaa! Stop thinking like that!'_ she ordered herself

"Hm, Hinata?" Naruto said "Is something wrong? You look a little hot" The blonde nin walked up to Hinata and put his hand on her forehead.

"Ah, n-no" Hinata stammered "I'm just a little tired"

"Already?" Naruto looked quite incredulous, then he flashed a grin "Say, let's go to Ichiruka's, I always get more energy after eating some ramen" Hinata nearly fainted.

'_Oh, kami! It's like he's asking me out to dinner!' _she thought _'Maybe I could make this into a date with Naruto-kun!'_

"T-that sounds n-nice" Hinata answered with yet another blush.

"Yatta, ramen!" Naruto exclaimed as they began their walk towards the ramen stand.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Even if it was quite good, Hinata couldn't eat more than one bowl of ramen. However, as per usual, Naruto downed one after another. Hinata watched in fascination, vaguely wondering where it all _went _after passing through his mouth. When, after some time, Naruto too was finished and they had gone out on the street again, Hinata tried to muster courage to talk to him.

"A-ano, N-naruto-kun…" she tried.

Naruto, quite oblivious, just took a look at the darkening sky.

"Ne, Hinata, it's getting kinda late" he said matter-of-factly "I don't think we're able to train anymore so let's call it a day" Naruto gave the indigo eyed girl a wave and started walking home.

"Um, wait, Naruto-kun!" Hinata called after him. Naruto turned around looking a bit perplexed.

"Eh, what is it?" he asked. Hinata began to pock her fingers together.

"Um… c-could you w-walk me h-home? She asked shyly.

"Hm? Eh, sure, why not" Naruto said with a shrug.

They walked in silence towards the Hyuga mansion, Hinata quite reluctantly. She was ransacking her mind for a way to start a conversation, but seemed quite unable too. Unintentionally, Naruto provided her with a topic.

"Man I hope Tsunade-obaachan will give me a mission to go looking for Sasuke soon" he whined. That gave Hinata an idea.

"Um, Naruto-kun…" she began. Naruto turned to look at her.

"Hm?" he said.

"D-do you… do you r-remember" Hinata said "that night… w-when we were searching f-for the b-bikouchuu and y-you t-thought you s-saw… s-someone?" Naruto took a while to remember, but finally it all came back to him.

"Oh, yeah, I saw this ultra cute girl who was dancing naked under a waterfall" Hinata blushed a bright red when he reminded her that he'd seen her _naked_ "why do you ask?"

"W-well, N-naruto-kun, that girl…" She took a deep breath "… in fact… t-that wa-wa-was" She stuttered so fiercely now that she was barely able to speak

'_I can't do this!' _she thought _'I'm gonna faint, I'm gonna faint, I'm gonna…NO! I can't faint now, I HAVE to say it!'_ She took one final deep breath.

"T-that w-was… me, Naruto-kun, under the waterfall" Naruto was dumbstruck.

"That was you? No way!" Hinata had gained some courage now, and was reducing the space between them, inch by inch.

"I-its true Naruto-kun, I'm the 'ultra cute' girl you saw" Their faces were so close now, their noses were almost touching. Hinata locked with her gaze the boy who for so long had been the object of her admiration and longing.

"I… I…love you Naruto" she finally said.

'_She loves me?' _Naruto thought incredulously.

Being ignored by most of the village for his whole life, the blonde nin had never really believed that he would ever hear those words from anyone. He had liked Sakura a lot and had always tried to make her like him in turn, but she never seemed to care. But now Hinata was proclaiming her love to him, and Naruto was unable to even think of a way to answer.

"I have for such a long time" Hinata continued "… but I never thought you would notice me" her eyes began to moisten.

Naruto felt ashamed and disgusted of his own inability to see the blue haired girl's affection of him until now. He had always felt sorry for himself because he thought no one cared about him, and now he found out that he had been doing the same thing to poor Hinata.

The moon had risen and cast its glow over the sleeping village. The pure light was reflected by Hinata's skin, giving her an ethereal glow, and her eyes, now similar to the moon's reflection in two ponds of crystalline water. Naruto looked into Hinata's lavender coloured eyes.

'_She's really cute like this'_ he thought_ 'I can't believe I ever thought she was weird'_

"Hinata" he said with a small smile "can you ever forgive me for being so stupid?" Hinata smiled back at him.

"I-I forgive you Naruto-kun, if you forgive me for never being able to tell you how I felt"

Then, in response to a feeling grown from the two's life long quest to feel needed, and their lips began to brush tenderly against each other. The kiss deepened, Hinata placed her hands on Narutos chest and Naruto swept his arms around her and pulled her close. They continued until all they could feel were each other, as if everything else had ceased to exist. A single tear fell down Hinata's cheek, she was truly happy.

Alas, that happiness was not meant to last. The sound of several pairs of feet landing around them brought the two newly found lovers back to reality. They were surrounded by five ANBU, all of whom were pointing their weapons against Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" a wolf masked one barked "You are hereby under arrest for abducting Hyuga Hinata, and, by request from Hiashi-sama, you will be brought back to the Hyuga mansion for imprisonment and later execution!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

_To be continued…_

AN: Now, I tried to ease the pace on this fic, although I'm not sure if it worked.

Also, if you didn't catch it, the girl with white eyes who spied on Hinata and Naruto was Hanabi, and you'll get the explanation to her spying and the ANBU arrest in the next chapter.

Oh and please review and tell me what you think, even if you read the previous version you can drop a line to tell me if I made a better job this time.

Hmm…I think that's about it, well see y'all later!

Sincerely: Ausir


	2. Chapter 2

And here's the second version of chapter two. I've only changed a few things in this one, a few typos, one or two scenes, but that's it.

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

_The Tragic Life of Hyuuga Hinata_

_By Ausir_

_Chapter 2_

"Uzumaki Naruto!" a wolf masked ANBU barked "You are hereby under arrest for abducting Hyuuga Hinata and, by request from Hiashi-sama, you will be brought back to the Hyuga mansion for imprisonment and later execution!" Naruto looked incredulous.

"You can't be serious!" He crossed his arms over his chest and put on a defiant look.

"I'm not going anywhere!" he proclaimed. The five ANBU pulled out their kunai.

"Should you resist arrest, we are ordered to use any force necessary to bring you in" The five attacked simultaneously.

In a time period of about two seconds, Naruto grabbed on to Hinata and jumped straight up onto a nearby roof. This caused the ANBUs to nearly cut down each other, although they skillfully dodged their comrades, after all, they _were_ ANBU. They quickly regrouped and rapidly began to pursue their target.

Naruto, still carrying Hinata in his arms, jumped over the Konoha rooftops when a kunai grazed his right chin. Venturing a peak backwards, he saw three of the ANBU jumping behind them, increasingly gaining on them. He tried to jump faster, but the pursuers easily matched his speed.

'_Damn, they're persistent!' _he thought and frantically tried to come up with a better plan.

Meanwhile, Hinata was reflecting over how nice it was to be so close by Naruto, even if it was because they were being chased by ANBU.

'_He's so warm…'_ she thought_ 'I wish he could hold me like this forever and… wait, what's that?'_ the final line of thought was devoted to two shadows sneaking around on one of the rooftops.

"Naruto-kun!" she warned "Look out!"

Naruto was quite busy avoiding kunai and coming up with his plan; therefore he didn't hear Hinata's warning in time for it to make that much of a difference. The remaining two ANBU had went ahead to plant a trap to catch their prey. They now jumped out from their hiding place, throwing several kunai each which landed just in front of Naruto, forcing him to a halt.

The pursuing three took this opportunity to throw their own kunai, which embedded themselves into Naruto's back. While he was dazed from the shock, an eagle masked ANBU snatched Hinata from him and a cat masked one breathed a purple gas into Naruto's face, which blinded him and caused him to choke.

Naruto fell to his knees, his vision was becoming blurry. He tried to stand but only managed to collapse once again. While the world darkened around him he could hear Hinata's screaming, although he couldn't make out any words.

"Hinata-chan…" was the last thing he said before passing out.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

After she saw Naruto fall to the ground, Hinata almost became hysteric. She struggled against the ANBU holding her, trying to make him release her so she could go to Naruto's side. When her attempts failed, she tried to wake Naruto up by calling out to him.

"Naruto-kun, please wake up! Wake up Naruto, please!" he didn't respond. Another ANBU picked him up and placed the limp body of the blonde over his shoulder. Naruto's face had become quite pale.

"What did you do to him?" Hinata demanded, deathly afraid that they had killed the one she loved. The leader, the one in the wolf mask, answered her.

"We used a slightly poisonous gas to knock him out, Hinata-sama" Hinata sighed in relief, Naruto wasn't dead afterall.

While the ANBU had took them back towards the Hyuga mansion, Hinata desperately tried to free herself and Naruto. She had tried kicking, screaming (which led to the one carrying her putting his hand over her mouth), biting (causing the ANBU to put a silencing jutsu on her instead), forming seals and everything else she could come up with, but without any results.

Eventually, they brought her back 'home', although it barely felt like home anymore. Three of the ANBU took Naruto with them towards the dungeons, while the remaining two brought Hinata to meet with her father.

Inside the clan leader's chambers, Hinata saw not only her father, but also her younger sister Hanabi, standing to the side of, and slightly behind, their father. Plastered on her face was a victorious and gleeful expression. The ANBU let go of Hinata, took of their masks and bowed in front of Hiashi and his youngest daughter. Hinata gasped. She didn't recognize either of the ANBU, but they were both clearly discernable as Hyuga branch members. That fact would explain however why they hadn't knocked her out as well.

"Hiashi-sama" the one who had been wearing a wolf's mask said "We found Hinata-sama with that boy, Naruto, just as you said she would be"

Hearing this, Hiashi turned slightly to give Hanabi a quick smile and a pat her on the head. Hinata knew _exactly_ what that meant.

"H-hanabi, h-how c-could you?" Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

Hanabi's answer came in the form of the same victorious smile she had given before, even broader this time. Then, seemingly without Hiashi noticing, she mouthed 'I beat you again, sis'.

Hinata could barely believe this; she had been betrayed by her own sister! True, she and Hanabi had never been on the best of terms, but this betrayal from her sister left Hinata crestfallen.

While this transpired, the ANBU's continued to give their report.

"The fox child tried to put up a fight, but he was quite easy to neutralize, Hiashi-sama" The ANBU concluded "He is being chained up we speak"

"Excellent" Hiashi said "Have someone put up seals on the bars to his cell, we wouldn't want that fox child to escape" He made a loathing hand gesture towards Hinata. "And take my… daughter" he spat the word out "to her room and make sure she stays there, dismissed"

"Yessir!" The two ANBU bowed once again and then proceeded to 'escort' Hinata to her room.

During the whole audience, Hiashi hadn't even looked at her.

When she had entered her room, Hinata heard that the two outside began to put up seals on her door. Her room would now become her prison. She fell down on the same spot she had that morning, and cried herself to sleep.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

When Naruto came to, he found himself sitting on a cold and damp stone floor with his back uncomfortably resting on an equally cold and damp stone wall. Although his whole body hurt, the most intense pain emitted from his head, his back and, for some reason, his wrists and ankles to. The night's previous events all came back to him.

"Hinata-chan!" He stood up to go and look for her, but his legs immediately gave way under him, causing him to crash to the ground.

Naruto groaned and lifted his hands to rub his head. He thought his hand was distinctly heavier than usual, and it gave away a rattling noise. He gave his hands a more thorough inspection. They had put him in chains, quite big and heavy ones at that, which explained why his wrists were sore. He looked down at his feet to find a matching pair of chains around his ankles.

'_Ok, she can't be here anyway, Hinata's dad wouldn't put his daughter in a dungeon, right?' _

Content with that thought, he returned focus to the chains. He followed them with his gaze to find that they were deeply embedded between the rocks in the wall. Naruto gave them an experimental pull. They didn't budge an inch, and the movement tired him quite a bit.

'_That's weird'_ he thought _'Usually I'm back in shape after just sleeping for a couple of hours'_

He thought about it for a while, but since he couldn't come up with any kind of explanation, he let it pass and instead began to survey his surroundings. It was roughly three square meters in size and quite high to the ceiling, built with massive granite blocks, and no windows. On the opposite side from where Naruto sat, there was a row of thick iron bars with a fortified door in them. The bars were all littered with seals, some of which he found vaguely similar to the seals on his stomach. Beyond the bars was a corridor with a light further down, this provided the only source of illumination.

Because of the poor lighting, it wasn't until _after_ he had scanned everything else there was to see, that he noticed the little bowl placed at his feet. Naruto had become quite hungry and he immediately grabbed for the bowl. The food inside was to his utter disappointment not ramen, but a disgusting porridge which looked as if it had already been digested once and then thrown up again. After a quick taste, he found it hinted to the same conclusion.

Naruto put the bowl down. Maybe later he would become hungry enough to eat it, in a year or so, but for now he decided to endure the howling from his belly, rather than stomaching that horrible muck in the bowl. More than food, his body was screaming out for sleep, and even though he couldn't attain any comfortable position, Naruto slowly fell back to sleep, dreaming about the kiss under the moon.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The day after she had had her talk with Hinata, Kurenai Yuhi was on her way to the Hokage's office. Actually, she had planned to go there yesterday, but Asuma had wanted to take her out to dinner, and one thing had, eventually, led to another. Kurenai smiled to herself at the memory. Had she not promised Hinata to talk to Tsunade about her and Neji's arranged marriage, she would have stayed longer at Asuma's apartment, or, more precisely, a specific location in said apartment.

She made her way up the stairs and through the corridor to Tsunade's office, taking a quick stop so she could identify herself to the bodyguards. She stopped just in front of the great door, and knocked. No answer. She knocked again. Still there was no answer. Kurenai opened the door slightly and peaked in. What she saw made her sweat drop. Tsunade was sleaping in her chair, with her head resting on the desk and surrounded by white sake bottles.

'_Is she already drunk or is she sleeping off yesterday's sake?'_ she wondered.

Kurenai realized that this could prove problematic, since she figured it wouldn't be that good an idea to wake up the villages most powerful ninja. While she stood there and tried to work out what to do, Shizune entered the room. She said good morning to Kurenai and then saw the state her boss was in. Shizune sighed. She took the pile of papers she'd been carrying, walked up to the desk and soundly dropped them in front of Tsunade.

The Hokage snapped awake "I don't owe you nuthin'!" she exclaimed before becoming fully awake "I…huh? Oh, Shizune it's you, good morning." Tsunade's attendant sighed once more before replying.

"Good morning, Tsunade-sama, here's this morning's mission requests"

"Already? Kami! Is there no end to all this paperwork?"

"Not if you continue to get drunk while you're working on them, Tsunade-sama" The Hokage managed to look slightly embarrassed.

Shizune sighed one last time and excused herself, leaving Kurenai alone with their alcoholic leader. Tsunade saw Kurenai and recognized a chance to put her work of for a while.

"Ah! Kurenai, what can I help you with?" she said, with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Well, Hokage-sama, I'm here to talk about one of my students, Hinata"

"Oh, the Hyuga girl, I heard she's gotten a lot stronger recently" Kurenai nodded and for an instant felt very proud of her pupil.

"Yes she has" she confirmed "but that's not why I'm here"

"What is it then?" Tsunade asked.

Kurenai told the Hokage about what had happened the previous day, of how Hinata had sought her up and in tears had told her about her arranged marriage with her cousin. What Kurenai didn't tell the Hokage about however, was Hinata's love for Naruto, and Kurenai's advice to do something about it. She wasn't sure that Hinata would want her crush on the number one hyperactive ninja to become public knowledge just yet, although Kurenai believed that quite a few, from the rookie nine at least, had already began to suspect quite a lot.

While Kurenai spoke, Tsunade bridged her hands in front of her face, listening intently. When Kurenai had finished, the Hokage closed her eyes in concentration. This lasted for several minutes, and Kurenai began to suspect that Tsunade had once again fallen asleep.

"Hokage-sama, what are we going to do?" she fianally burst out unable to keep silent any longer. Tsunade opened her eyes and looked straight into Kurenai's.

"To force someone into marriage" she declared "clearly goes against Konoha law" Kurenai heaved a sigh of relief.

"Then you will stop it from happening, right?' she said. Tsunade slumped back into her chair and heaved a sigh of her own.

"No, I will not" Kurenai's jaw dropped.

"What? But you just said…" she was cut of.

"I know what I said!" the female Hokage barked, causing Kurenai to flinch. Tsunade calmed down a bit.

"Forced marriage is against_ Konoha_ law" she continued. "Unfortunately, the Hyugas has their _own_ set of laws, and I'm pretty sure _they_ permit forced marriage"

"Can't you do anything?" Kurenai pleaded.

"I'm afraid not" Tsunade said with a hint of sadness "Not without getting on the Hyugas bad side, that is" Kurenai got pissed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded "You're letting this happen just to keep that bastard Hiashi happy?" Tsunade stood up, equally infuriated.

"Of course not, but for the time being we can't afford to make enemies with the Hyugas!"

"Why?" Kurenai retorted. Tsunade cooled down a bit, although she still retained a pulsating vein on her forehead.

"Because" she made a sweeping motion at the village below her window "Konoha is still crippled from the Sound's invasion" she explained "If we lost the Hyuugas, or even worse, if they turned against us, we could be facing total annihilation" Kurenai thought this over.

"I guess" she admitted "but we should be able to do _something_"

"I agree" Tsunade said "There's just not much we can do, except maybe send a wedding gift"

"But what about Naruto?" Kurenai tried one last strategy; she had heard the Hokage had a soft spot for the blonde ninja.

"What about him?"

"Well, you see, Hinata is…" Just then the office door burst open, and Shizune rushed inside, frantically waving with a set of papers in her right hand.

"Tsunade-sama! The Hyugas have arrested Naruto!" she exclaimed.

"WHAT!" Unforgiving rage formed and burst out from the Hokage, spreading and filling up her entire office with imaginary flames. Naruto was like a younger brother to her, and she was not going to let him come to any harm, politics be damned.

Shizune was scared shitless by her master's rage, but quickly decided it could get a lot worse if she didn't explain the situation ASAP.

"W-well, Tsunade-sama, I just got these requests of restraint for Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata" She handed over the three papers she had been waving with to her boss.

Tsunade rapidly and furiously read them through. The first and second where requests of restraint for Naruto and Hinata respectively, just as Shizune had said. The third one however, was something completely different.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Tsunade roared when she got to the third one "What is this supposed to mean? 'Requesting permission to execute the demon container Uzumaki Naruto'!" Both Kurenai and Shizune gasped.

"Hokage-sama, you can't let them do this!" Even if Kurenai barely knew Naruto, she still wanted him to be safe, for Hinata's sake.

"Like hell I'm gonna let them!" Tsunade fumed, and slammed both fists down on her table, causing it to crumble. She stood up.

"Shizune, lets go!"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" Tsunade turned to Kurenai.

"Kurenai, you can come to if you want to" Kurenai nodded and together they went down towards the Hyuga mansion.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Naruto was roused from his slumber by the sound of his cell door being locked up. He groaned and raised his lead heavy head; the sleep hadn't helped at all, if anything, he felt even more exhausted. Three figures entered, two of them wore green swastikas on their foreheads, marking them as Hyuga branch members, and the third one was wearing a black and white kimono and a very harsh expression. Naruto thought he recognized the man from somewhere.

"Take of his chains" the one in kimono commanded. He was obviously their leader.

A spark of hope flickered within Naruto. Where they going to let him go? He soon found out that he would have no such luck, when the branch members liberated him from the chains and immediately manacled him instead.

"Think he can walk?" one branch member asked another. The one in kimono gave them an irritated look.

"Doesn't matter" he said coldly "Just drag him if can't walk on his own" The branch members nodded and one of them took hold of the manacles around Naruto's wrists and began to pull.

Face down; while the other branch member walked behind to guard him, Naruto was thusly dragged across the harsh and cold cobbles. Some of the stones were quite sharp, tearing his clothes and into his flesh. The path went deep down, past several other cells like the one Naruto had been in, although they all seemed to be empty.

He was dragged for what to him seemed like hours, until they finally reached their destination; a sinister looking interrogations chamber, located in the deepest part of the dungeon. Naruto was hung up on a wall, like a morbid piece of art, his feet hovering a few inches above the ground. He must have been near fainting, for he received a sharp blow to his chin, meant to wake him up.

"Who… the hell…are… you guys" he groaned. His answer came in the form of another blow, this time received by his stomach, causing him to cough up blood.

"You are here to answer _my_ questions, demon" the leader said.

"I'm not… a… demon, dammit" Naruto managed.

"Yes you are, but that's not why you are here" the black and white clad man went a few steps closer.

"Now, demon" he began "Why did you kidnap my daughter" From the way the man had said 'daughter', as if was some kind furniture, Naruto knew who the man had to be.

'_Hinata's dad!"_ he thought. "I didn't kidnap her, dammit!" the rage brewing within him gave Naruto new strength.

"Wrong answer" Hiashi said simply. A branch member fired a juuken blow at Naruto's shoulder, ripping sinews and destroying muscles. Naruto screamed out in pain.

"Let's try again now, demon" the Hyuga leader continued after Naruto's scream had died of. "Why did you kidnap my daughter? Where you going to steal her byakuugan, perhaps?"

"No!" Naruto received another blow, directed at his other shoulder. This time the scream took awhile longer to subside, and Naruto continued to groan from the pain of hanging from two trashed shoulders.

"Were you planning to sate your carnal lusts with her then, demon?"

"You're sick, man!" Naruto panted "I'd never…" Another blow, directed at the lower part of his left leg. Hiashi sighed.

"If you would just admit to your crimes, demon, your pain would ease"

"I… haven't…done… anything" It was getting hard to speak for Naruto. Hiashi sighed again and Naruto was subjugated to several other blows directed at various parts of his body.

The torture continued in the same way for several hours. Hiashi would ask leading questions and make accusations, and Naruto would deny them. All the time the second branch member (the one not dealing out punishment) was sitting in a corner, seemingly writing everything down. Throughout the torture, Naruto refused to give in although his resolve had been substantially weakened towards the end. When Naruto was just about to give in, a branch member burst through the door, yelling.

"Hiashi-sama, the Hokage is approaching our compound" he informed.

Hiashi nodded and ordered that Naruto be brought back to his cell, while he went out to meet the Hokage.

'_Safe for now… but they'll probably return to finish the job soon enough' _he thought _'Hinata-chan, I hope you're better of than me'_

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The three women approached the gates of the Hyuuga compound, where Hiashi was awaiting them.

"Hokage-sama, this is truly an honor" he said.

"Cut the crap!" Kurenai yelled at him "What have you done with Hinata and Naruto?"

"I would also like to know that, Hiashi-san" Tsunade said, infinitely calm, but with a hint of steel. Hiashi forced a smile.

"Oh, but where have my manners gone? Wouldn't you like to join me for tea?" he proposed "I'll answer all of your questions inside" Kurenai was about to protest when Shizune put her hand on Kurenai's shoulder to calm her down.

"We would like that" Tsunade agreed.

"Lets go inside then" Hiashi said and entered his compound, shortly followed by the three females.

Inside, the three of them had to wait until the tea was served before Hiashi began to talk.

"Now Hokage-sama" he said after taking a sip from his cup "I believe you asked about my eldest daughter?"

"That is correct, Hiashi-san" Tsunade and Hiashi were seated directly opposite from each other, with Shizune sitting on Tsunade's right side and Kurenai to her left. "I am curious as to why you formed a request of restraint for her"

"Sadly, Hokage-sama, she has become slightly… erratic… since she was kidnapped and nearly raped by that fox demon" he sighed theatrically "The ANBU were barely in time to stop such a horrible event from happening" All three women looked very skeptical.

"I have reports from the five ANBU involved which elevates this fact beyond any doubt" Hiashi said confidently.

"I would like to take a look at those reports, Hiashi-san" Tsunade said.

"Why, of course, Hokage-sama" Hiashi called for a servant to go and fetch the reports.

When the servant returned he handed the sheets directly to Tsunade, who began to read them.

"I'm sure you'll find that they are all in order, Hokage-sama" Hiashi said in an assuring tone.

"Quite so" Tsunade said with a sigh once she had finished reading "but I still wish to know where you have put Naruto"

"Due to its crimes, the demon fox is being held in restraint in an underground part of this compound"

"You bastard!" Kurenai yelled, unable to keep herself calm any longer "How can you put a kid in a dungeon? And stop talking about that boy as if he's some kind of monster!" Hiashi answered as calmly as before.

"I am fully aware that the demon is only sealed away within the boy" he began "Yet, how can we be certain that the boy is capable of controlling the demon? That is why I have ordered his imprisonment" Kurenai stood up.

"But you are going to execute the boy together with the demon!" she accused, still shouting.

"Yes" the Hyuga leader said. Shizune was forced to grab a hold of Kurenai to keep her from attacking him.

"You have no such authority, Hiashi-san" Tsunade stated.

"Quite the opposite, Hokage-sama, the authority is all mine" Hiashi's smile had now faded. "The crime was done to a head family member, therefore the fox demon shall be judged according to Hyuga law" Tsunade tried to protest but was cut of.

"I believe that is all there is to say, Hokage-sama. Now, if you excuse me, I have work to attend to. I will have a servant guide you to the gates" Hiashi got to his feet and left the room without saying as much as 'goodbye'.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

All three women wore expressions of extreme anger and frustration when they went through the Hyuga gate.

"The bastard thinks he can talk to me like that?" Tsunade fumed "Me! The Hokage, I'll show him!" Several knots had formed on her forehead and she clenched her fists tightly.

The trio began to make their way back towards the Hokage's mansion.

"And he doesn't even care about how poor Hinata feels!" Kurenai growled. Shizune nodded.

"I agree" she said "he seems to think that the end, whatever that is, justifies the means" Shizune was by far the calmest of the three.

"To hell with his ends!" both Tsunade and Kurenai exclaimed in unison.

"We must try to save those two, Hokage-sama" Kurenai continued.

"Yes we should" Tsunade agreed "but I don't have the slightest idea how"

"I could help" a voice said, making the three women jump. Kurenai spun around.

"You!" she pointed her finger accusingly at the voice's owner; Neji "Why would we want any help from you, you're that bastard Hiashi's favorite!" Neji didn't deny that fact.

"Yes I am Hiashi-sama's favorite" he said "however he barely sees me as anything but a tool, like he sees most people" Kurenai seemed to become a little less suspicious and Neji continued. "Hinata-sama on the other hand is a dear friend to me, and I want to help her and Naruto" the young genius looked a little hesitant, but then concluded "I also have my own reasons for not wanting to exchange vows with Hinata-sama"

"What would that be?" Shizune inquired, feeling a bit suspicious herself.

"I… love someone else" he said "and I would never be able to become happy with that person if I married Hinata-sama instead" This confession wiped away Kurenai and Shizune's remaining doubts. Tsunade stepped in.

"I don't really care for all this romance" she said bluntly "but I also want to help those two, so do you have any information, Neji-kun, which we could make use of?" Neji nodded.

"I know where they are both being kept, plus some ways to enter the mansion with minimal risk" after hearing this, Tsunade gave the other two women a smirk.

"I think I've just come up with a plan" she said.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

_To be continued…_

AN: okay I basically just rewrote the last scene, the first one just seemed so, well, hasty. Otherwise I'm completely satisfied with this new version; those of you who read this fic for the first time are of course free to review.

A small apology: I know I said I would post chapter three this weekend but, well… stuff came in the way. I promise it will be up in a week though so please don't flame me (I have a weak ego, _grinning sheepishly_).

That's all for now, cya later!

Ausir.


	3. Chapter 3

Finally here's chapter 3, I hope you've all been expecting it. BTW I've changed the genre from tragedy to general, so I can put pretty much whatever I feel like in this fic. And another thing, I'm approaching the point where I'm running out of ideas for the plot, so feel free to give me some suggestions.

Disclaimer: if you think I own this, think again.

_The Tragic Life of Hyuuga Hinata_

_By Ausir_

_Chapter 3_

The sun was setting over Konohagakure, bathing the village in a light as red as blood. Tsunade was looking out over the rooftops from her office window, situated high in the Hokage's mansion, and heaved a sigh.

'_I really hope I'm not going to regret this'_ she thought.

Several hours ago she had claimed to have come up with a plan, a fairly good one to, but the Hokage now began to experience doubt. Not in the plan per se, but more of the consequences of such an act as the one she had in mind. Her brooding was interrupted by a knock on her door. Tsunade turned her chair to face the entrance.

"Enter" she said.

The red door opened and five people came inside. The first one to enter was Neji, followed by his sensei Guy and Guy's rival Kakashi, who as always was reading his _Icha Icha Paradise_, and lastly Kurenai and Asuma who walked and stood very close to each other. Neji and Kurenai had been the ones Tsunade sent to gather the other three since Tsunade did not like the prospect of letting additional people know about her scheming.

"You wanted to speak with us about a mission, Tsunade-sama?" Guy said and flashed his teeth in an anticipating grin. Tsunade nodded.

"Yes I did" she replied "I have a special mission for the five of you" she crossed her fingers in front of her face to calm her own nerves somewhat.

"Last night" she began "The Hyuga leader Hiashi confined his daughter Hinata as well as Naruto inside the Hyuga mansion. He has made it clear that he intends to execute Naruto for some crime the boy supposedly perpetrated against the Hyuga clan" Tsunade made a pause in order to watch the others' reactions.

Kurenai's and Neji's expressions were largely unchanged since they already knew what the Hokage was telling them; however, the remaining three had been brought into varying degrees of shock. The stoic Kakashi had merely blinked hard, while Guy had let his jaw fall and Asuma dropped the joint he had been sucking on to the floor.

"Why would he do something like that, Hokage-sama?" Guy loudly inquired "It's completely insane! None of them has done anything wrong, right?"

"No they haven't, Guy-sensei" Neji answered in Tsunade's stead "However" he continued "Hiashi-sama greatly disapproves of their relationship with each other" This caused even Kakashi to raise an eyebrow.

"Relationship?" he asked "I knew that the Hyuga girl likes Naruto, but I always gathered that kid would be too dim to even notice"

"And why would Hiashi disapprove of that anyway?" Asuma said while he dug around in his jacket in search of a new cigarette.

"From what Kurenai says" the bearded jounin continued once he had found what he sought "Hiashi doesn't care a spit what his daughter ever does" Neji nodded.

"He doesn't" the young genius confirmed "However, Hiashi-sama has decided to make _me_ his successor as clan leader, and the only way that is possible is if I marry Hinata-sama. In this situation, her and Naruto's relationship is a hindrance to his plans"

"So that's what this is all about" Kakashi said calmly without betraying any emotion. Guy on the other hand had been moved to tears.

"How cruel a fate to be separated from one's true love in the springtime of youth!" the green clad jounin cried, tears flowing freely while he clenched his right fist in determination "We must immediately rush to their aid, Hokage-sama!" he urged. Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, we shall" she said "and that is why you are here"

"Enough with the talking already!" Kurenai said, clearly annoyed by the delay this conversation was causing "Tell us what we need to know so we can go rescue those two!" she demanded.

"Very well, but before that all of you need to know that, if you accept this mission, I cannot help you should you be discovered. This is because I cannot risk a conflict between Hyuga and the rest of the village, do you understand this?" Everyone present nodded solemnly.

"Okay" the blonde woman continued "Since Neji-kun knows the Hyuga mansion inside and out, he will aid you in infiltrating it. Once you're inside, Kurenai and Asuma will go for Hinata, whom I think is imprisoned somewhere in the main building" Tsunade looked at Neji for confirmation on this. After he had given her a quick nod, Tsunade resumed her briefing.

"Kakashi and Guy will enter the dungeons below the mansion with Neji-kun who will guide you to where Naruto is being kept" Kakashi raised a hand.

"What should we do once we've got them out of there?" he asked.

Tsunade flinched; this was the part of her plan which she herself had had difficulty coping with. She took a deep breath and braced herself.

"If you succeed, you should bring them to the northern gate where Shizune will await with supplies and some other bare necessities which Naruto and Hinata will need once they leave the village" As expected, all hell broke lose inside the office.

"What!" Kurenai raged "you're going to exile two _kids_!" Guy vigorously nodded in agreement.

"She's right, those two has done nothing wrong, why should they be punished so?" Tsunade sighed.

"Believe me I don't like this either, however this is the only option" she raised her hand to stop the interruption she felt was coming.

"Those two will be safer outside of Konoha, even outside the land of Fire, where the bastard Hiashi and his pet Hyugas can't get to them, no offence Neji-kun" The young Hyuga didn't respond.

"True, yet very risky, Hokage-sama" Kakashi said, holding his masked chin in deep thought "to send away both the Byakugan and the Fourth's legacy…" he left the implications hanging "But I have quite good confidence in Naruto, that kid has much potential" he continued with a veiled smile. Neji nodded.

"Hinata-sama has grown much stronger as of late, I believe wholeheartedly in her abilities"

Kurenai glanced at Asuma, looking for some kind of support, but the bearded man just shrugged. The red eyed kunoichi sighed.

"I guess you're right Tsunade-sama, but I still don't like it"

"Neither do I, but I believe this to be for the best" the Hokage said "Now, you should all be on your way if you hope to rescue those two before dawn"

The five shinobi nodded and departed.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hinata sat by her window, watching as the sun slowly wandered behind the horizon. She would gladly welcome the end of this nightmarish day, though she knew that the next would be the same, if not worse. She had become completely exhausted, the previous night had not provided her with any rest, only horrific nightmares, by which memory the young girl shuddered. These dreams also prevented her from regaining the strength she had lost from lack of sleep, thus creating an evil circle.

It was not merely the lack of sleep which had weakened her though. She had been brought breakfast, lunch and dinner, but had scarcely eating anything and leaving almost full plates. Hinata was unable to keep an apatite and the food and drink would all turn into sand once it reached her lips. Her stomach voiced its displeasure of being neglected, but she did not listen to its rubling complaints. She only sustained her soul with thoughts of the brief moment of happiness she had shared with her Naruto-kun. The thought of the blonde nin who had captured her heart once again caused tears to trickle down her cheeks.

"Naruto-kun…" she whispered to herself.

The Hyuga girl had been crying most of the day away and by now her eyes matched the redness of the sunset. Hinata knew her father would kill her love as soon as possible; the deed might already have been done for all she knew, no-one had talked with her since last night. The constant worrying was slowly tearing Hinata apart. She had tried to ease her chaotic mind by reading in the scroll of healing jutsu she kept in her room, though this had only worked for a short while.

Hinata sighed and shambled towards her futon. She fell upon it and buried her face in her pillow, wetting it with her still flowing tears.

'_Forgive me, Naruto-kun' _she hoped that somehow her thoughts would reach out to her love _'please forgive me for putting you in this situation, father is right, I'm a failure and I don't deserve your love'_ she continued to repeat these thoughts in her head, wearing down her already weak self esteem.

"I o-only h-hurt the one I-I l-love" she said to herself between sobs "p-perhaps I w-was never m-meant to b-be h-happy…" her voice had dropped into a whisper as the exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on her body, and slowly let a new night full of horrors claim her.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Naruto sat in his cold cell, barely conscious from the torture he had received once Hiashi had returned. There had been a few more hours of beating and rhetorical questioning before Naruto had once again been brought back to his cell when Hiashi had become bored. The blonde boy still felt the unending pain from his savaged body, and he vaguely wondered why none of his injuries seemed to heal the way they used to. The pain though efficiently blurred out most of his thoughts and soon made Naruto fall into oblivious darkness.

He found himself lying on his back in front of an enormous and all too familiar iron barred gate. The blue eyed nin stood up, not surprisingly without any of the pain he had previously felt, and looked into the darkness beyond the gate.

"What do _you _want?" he asked the creature he knew resided within in an irritated tone of voice. Naruto really wasn't in the mood to get mocked by that giant fox. Two lupine, flaming eyes shone through the bars and a small chuckle, though it resounded like thunder, was heard.

'_NOTHING MUCH, KIT'_ the voice of the demon fox boomed _'JUST WANTED TO HAVE A LITTLE CHAT 'TIS ALL'_ He chuckled again.

"I don't want to talk to you" Naruto said defiantly. The fox didn't seem to care and continued.

_'YOU REALLY HAVE A TALENT FOR GETTING INTO TROUBLE, KIT'_ a monstrous grin consisting of rows of sharp teeth appeared within the cage _'AND BRINGING OTHERS ALONG AS WELL, I MIGHT AD'_

"If you're just going to say stuff like that I don't want to listen, baka-kitsune" A wave of dark indignation rushed through the bars. The demon fox was a being of immense pride, and being called 'baka-kitsune' really hurt that pride.

'_PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY LIKE YOU BETTER IF YOU WERE A LITTLE MORE POLITE, KIT'_ he remarked snidely. Naruto scoffed.

"They would like me a whole bunch more if I didn't have a monster fox sealed inside me" he snapped.

'_IT ISN'T LIKE I ENJOY BEING SEALED INSIDE AN OBNOXIOUS THIRTEEN YEAR OLD' _the demon retorted, finally letting his gargantuan grin fade away, for which Naruto was secretly very grateful since it had been giving him the willies.

'_AS FOR WHY I BROUGHT YOU HERE' _the great fox continued_ 'I WAS PLANNING TO HELP YOU ESCAPE; BUT SINCE YOUR BODY IS IN THE STATE IT IS I DON'T THINK THAT WILL BE POSSIBLE ANY LONGER'_ the blonde nin was tapping his foot in irritation.

"If you knew you wouldn't be able to help anyway, then why did you bring me here?"

'_LIKE I TOLD YOU, I WANTED TO CHAT' _the demon answered matter-of-factly _'YOU HUMANS LIKE TO HAVE SOMEONE TO TALK TO BEFORE YOU DIE, RIGHT?'_

"Wait a minute, I'm… dying?" Naruto asked in bewilderment. He knew he was in a pretty bad shape, just not _that_ bad.

'_LETS SEE…' _the fox began sarcastically _'BROKEN LIMBS, INTERNAL BLEEDING, DEPLETED CHAKRA, THOSE CHAKRA ABSORBING SEALS REALLY ARE A BITCH…'_ Naruto stared at the eyes within the cage_ '…THAT SOUNDS LIKE A DYING PERSON TO ME'_ the fox concluded. The boy was initially in shock from the fox's words, though he admitted he should have seen it coming, and then he began to laugh.

'_WHAT'S SO FUNNY?' _

"Hahaha, it's just great!" Naruto said bitterly between laughs "I've finally found a girl who loves me, actually loves me, and because of that I'm going to die. I have no luck at all, eh?"

'_DOESN'T SEEM THAT WAY, KIT' _the demon lord admitted, actually feeling a bit sorry for the boy, though he would never admit to _that_ _'YOU FOUND QUITE A NICE FEMALE THOUGH, SHE REALLY SEEMS TO CARE FOR YOU, UNLIKE THAT PINK HAIRED VIXEN YOU WENT AFTER BEFORE'_ he commented. Naruto sat down in front of the gate and nodded.

"Yeah, Hianat-chan is great, I just feel so bad for never noticing her before now… and never being able to make it up to her" Now even the light within Naruto's mind was starting to fade, but the red eyes of the fox suddenly flared.

'_SOMEONE IS COMING' _he alerted.

"Probably those bastards coming to finish me of" Naruto said in resignation.

'_NO THESE SCENTS ARE DIFFERENT' _said the fox _'I THINK ONE OF THEM IS THAT TEACHER OF YOURS…'_

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto exclaimed with increased hope "He's here to get me out? I better get out of here then" The blonde nin rose once again to his feet and began to walk away, but turned to the cage again and flashed a grin.

"You're not so bad company after all, baka-kitsune" he said merrily "Maybe we could talk again when I'm not dying, ja ne!" Naruto dashed of through the dark halls of his mind towards the light of the world, and hopefully his own freedom.

Still in its cage the Kitsune now pondered alone.

'_I THINK I BEGIN TO LIKE THAT CUB' _he thought before wrapping his nine tails around his body and going back to sleep.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Kurenai and Asuma stealthily made their way through the dark corridors of the Hyuga mansion's main building. They had only had to dispose of two guards to get there; apparently the Hyugas didn't expect to have nightly visitors, though two more stood in front of the door they suspected led to Hinata's room. The guards did not seem to be very high ranking though and Kurenai easily put them to sleep with a genjutsu.

"You're really good at this, Kurenai" Asuma complimented.

"Yeah, I know" the red eyed kunoichi said with a smile and slight blush "Now lets get Hinata out of there"

They both closed in on the door cautiously so as not to awaken the unconscious guards. On the door had been placed several powerful paper seals, but since these were only meant to repel attacks from the inside, the two shinobi had no problem in disposing of them. Kurenai carefully slid the door open.

"Hinata?" she whispered into the pitch black room.

There came no response and Kurenai made her way deeper into the room, almost tripping over a shape lying on a futon, whimpering. The raven haired woman went down on her knees to investigate and found the shape to be the young Hyuga girl crying even in her sleep.

"Na… Naruto… kun…" Hinata whispered sorrowfully, causing her sensei to almost break into tears herself.

While Asuma dragged the knocked out guards into the room so as to avoid detection, Kurenai gently shook her student, trying to wake her up. Hinata stirred and opened her eyes.

"Kurenai-sensei?" she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Shhh, Hinata" Kurenai said reassuringly "we're here to bust you and Naruto out of this place" At the mentioning of Naruto Hinata instantly became fully awake.

"Naruto-kun? Where is he? Is he all right?" the Hyuga girl bombarded her sensei with questions.

"Easy there, Hinata" Kurenai said with a smile "Neji, Kakashi and Guy are on their way to fetch him, you'll meet him soon and I'm sure he's all right" A groan from the guards alerted the three that it was time to hit the road.

"Hurry up and get dressed Hinata" Kurenai implored. Hinata quickly put on her clothes, while Asuma and Kurenai politely had their backs turned. As an afterthought Hinata also grabbed her healing scroll and put it inside her jacket.

When Hinata had finished, all three of them quickly made their way through the corridor and back door into the dark night.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The party of three darted down the dimly lit passageways of the Hyuga dungeons. Neji was at the lead since he alone among the three shinobi knew the exact path. The whole dungeon had been constructed much like a labyrinth to hinder any potential escapes. In fact, the only way one could navigate the treacherous passages was if one possessed the byakugan, since this was required to detect the chakra markings on the walls which told the way.

The labyrinth was completely void of guards, but Neji was well aware that instead there were a multitude of hidden traps. Therefore, although they still moved at quite a pace, the party was often forced to halt whenever a trap was suspected. They had still been caught in a few though; two spike traps, a scorpion pit, a rolling boulder and a powerful genjutsu which had taken Kakashi quite a while to detect.

Finally though, they were now approaching Naruto's cell. It was quite hard to miss actually, since all the bars as well as the fortified door were covered in different seals.

"Barricading and chakra absorbing seals" Kakashi noted casually. Guy looked horrified.

"How cruel!" he exclaimed "those seals must have weakened the boy to deaths edge!" The masked jounin nodded.

"Yes, we should get him out as soon as possible"

"I shall do it" Neji said, gathering chakra in his hand and directing a forceful blow towards the door, shattering it to pieces.

"Did you have to be so forceful?" Guy asked his pupil disapprovingly.

"Yes I had, sensei" the branch member explained as they entered the cell "The door was resistant to taijutsu and ninjutsu moves, as well as weaker combined moves, had I not used enough force I would barely have left a scratch"

"I doubt the blast caused him any more injuries than he already had" Kakashi commented grimly as he carefully examined the beaten and barely alive Naruto.

"Kami-sama!" Both Guy and Neji inhaled in shock. Neji had only been informed of Naruto's imprisonment, not of any torture conducted upon him, and was therefore completely horrified. The young genius activated his bloodline limit to learn the extent of the damage.

"He… he's really messed up" Neji said in disgust "his limbs are fractured, and his internal organs are barely functioning, he's got internal bleeding as well and his chakra circulation system is almost completely trashed" Neji was clearly amazed "He shouldn't even be alive!" he stated incredulously.

"But alive he is, and I think we'll have to thank the Kyuubi for that" Kakashi muttered while carefully undoing the chains and lifting his student in his arms.

"Kyuubi?" Neji asked. Kakashi suddenly remembered the taboo set in power by the Third.

"Nevermind" he said "Just show us the way out" Neji nodded and they began their ascent back to the surface.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Outside the northern gate, Shizune, Kurenai, Asuma and Hinata were all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the team sent to recover Konoha's number one hyperactive ninja. Shizune was checking through the supplies she had brought while Kurenai was fully occupied with keeping Hinata from running back to the mansion herself in search of Naruto.

"What if something has happened, sensei?" the blue haired girl asked repeatedly "We should go back and look for them!"

"I'm sure they're all right, Hinata" the raven haired shinobi assured, although she was getting a bit worried herself.

Asuma by far looked the calmest of the bunch as he stood leaning at the trunk of a tree with a lit cigarette in his mouth. However he was actually as nervous as all the others, maybe slightly less so than Hinata though. The bearded nin was the first who spotted Guy and Kakashi's approach. Kakashi seemed to carry something in his arms though the night made it hard to discern what.

"Hey you guys!" he called out, gaining the others' attention.

"Kakashi-san, Guy-san, where is Naruto?" Hinata asked while fear was creeping up under her skin.

"Here he is" the masked jounin said solemnly and presented the unmoving Naruto who lay in his arms.

"Oh Kami-sama, what did they do to him!" Shizune exclaimed in horror.

"N-naruto-kun…" Seeing the limp body of her love made Hinata swoon, and Kurenai was barely able to catch her pupil before she fell to the ground.

"According to Neji" Guy explained with a grim face "This is the result of some advanced torture where they have made extensive use of the juuken" Kurenai had just then noticed the absence of the young genius.

"Where is Neji-kun anyway?" she asked suspiciously while Kakashi put his student down on the ground for Shizune to treat him.

"He stayed behind to delay his uncle and the other Hyugas if that would become necessary" Kakashi answered.

"I see…" the red eyed kunoichi said, not entirely convinced, but her attention was redirected when Hinata began to stir.

"Naruto!" the Hyuga girl called out once her eyes fluttered open.

"It's okay, Shizune is treating him" Kurenai tried to calm the girl. Hinata however quickly got to her feet and rushed the short distance over to Naruto and dropped to her knees by his side.

"Please be okay Naruto…" she pleaded taking his hand in hers. She lifted her head to look at Shizune who was emitting a green light while trying to stop the internal bleeding in the unconscious boy, and took a decision.

"Shizune-san, c-can I do anything?" The medic nin didn't avert her concentration the slightest but she gave short nod.

"Use your byakugan and tell me where I have to focus my energy" she instructed. Hinata nodded in confirmation and activated her bloodline limit. The sensitive Hyuga almost vomited when she saw the damage which had been inflicted on Naruto's body, but she pulled herself together and began to give Shizune instructions on where the damage was the worst.

Almost an hour passed by while the two women frantically did their work, Hinata had even got a few opportunities to test some of the jutsu in her scroll, to the assembled other's great amazement. Finally they were able to stabilize the blonde ninja's condition so as to not be life threatening, and by then the sun had once again begun to rise in the east. Kakashi began to fear that they would not make it in time to escape before the Hyugas awoke and found their prisoners gone.

"How much more do you have to work on him?" he asked impatiently. Shizune wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"He should be fine now" she said when Naruto's breathing had eased to that of deep sleep.

"Good" The copy nin turned to Hinata, who also sweated profoundly "Do you think you can manage to carry him?"

"C-carry h-him?" she echoed. Kakshi nodded.

"We were originally going to help you two across the border" he explained "but we must return now so as not attract any suspicion, therefore you will have to carry him yourself"

"But why do we have to leave Konoha?" Hinata asked desperately, even though she hadn't been too happy in this village, it had still been her home for all her life, and Hinata was reluctant to leave it behind. Kurenai gave her a sisterly hug.

"Its not safe for you two to be here any longer, Hinata" she explained "That means that you have to leave the country, otherwise Hiashi could easily find you again"

"B-but…"

"You should hurry!" Guy urged. Finally Hinata gave in.

"O-okay, but where should we go?"

"Try Sunagakure" Shizune proposed while handing a backpack to the lavender eyed girl "They should be able to take you in"

"Hai" Hinata nodded and put on the backpack.

"There are only supplies for one person in that backpack" Shizune warned "You wouldn't be able to carry Naruto plus food for the two of you, so you will have to eat sparsely" Beyond the gate the village began to stir, adding more urgency to the shinobi at the gate.

Hinata blushingly picked up Naruto in her arms, holding him close to her, and turned to the jounin.

"Thank you for your help" she said teary eyed "I promise we'll never forget you"

"And we'll never forget you either, Hinata" Kurenai assured, equally teary eyed. In fact the only ones who _weren't_ teary eyed were Kakashi and Guy, Guy because, in stead of merely having damp eyes, he was crying openly while talking to himself about the springtime of youth.

Hinata turned towards the forest with the blonde nin still held protectively in her arms, and nimbly made a jump up into a nearby tree, swiftly proceeding to the next ones and leaving the village hidden in the leaves behind her.

"I really hope those two will be okay" Kurenai said.

"Oh I bet they will" Asuma said confidentially "They're a lot stronger than one could tell from just a short look" the other shinobi murmured their agreement, and swiftly disappeared back into the village.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

_To be continued…_

AN: Not much to say, just hope it didn't come out too short, and I'm eagerly awaiting your responses.


	4. Chapter 4

First of all, thanks for all the reviews! I actually began to feel like I was navigating a sinking ship, but your support convinced me to continue writing.

Also, I'd like to give some answers to a couple of reviews.

To Demon of Konoha: I'm really glad you pointed those things out to me, though I do believe that although the Hyuga family isn't exactly running Konoha, they have some great influence. Compare medieval European and Japanese kingdoms, the kings were always dependant on the good will of the nobles to stay in charge. I think that's how it works in Konoha too. The Kage is the 'king', but he or she needs support from the nobles, 'clans', to be able to rule. As for the Akatsuki, that was really embarrassing, I totally forgot about those guys, though I tried to fix it in this chapter, hope it makes sense.

To Kingdom219: I actually don't now (and if I did I wouldn't be telling you, '_wicked grin'_) but it gives me something to think about.

To Burnstar: yeah I kinda think so too, but then I'd have to make Naruto stay in Konoha for two years instead of training with Jiraiya. And I'm feeling a bit too lazy to come up with a good reason for that so this is how it's going to be.

And I think that's about everything, thanks again to everyone who gives me their reviews!

Final Disclaimer: I think you understand by now that I don't own Naruto, so this is the last disclaimer.

Enough rambling! On with the fic!

_The Tragic Life of Hyuuga Hinata_

_By Ausir_

_Chapter 4_

Hinata leapt through the thick and damp forest which covered much of the Fire country, as she had for several hours without pause. Even though she was a trained shinobi, her breathing had still become strained by the rapid pace she was keeping, not to mention that she also carried the still unconscious Naruto in her arms. In addition, she had only received minimal sleep during the night, and had yet to eat any breakfast. She was however reluctant to make even a short halt for fear that the Hyugas might now be on their trail. So she pressed on, even though her hungry and sleep-deprived body demanded otherwise, relying on will-power alone.

Yet, no matter how much a human is able to endure, in such conditions, the body always triumphs in the end. So, after another hour of jumping between branches, Hinata found a relatively safe-looking grove where she put both the boy and her backpack down. And then she collapsed, finally giving her body the rest it so desperately craved. The fall was not hard though, for the forest floor was covered in thick and lush moss, creating a most enjoyable softness. Also, here the sun's rays were able to penetrate the forest's green patchwork of leaves, its warmth adding to the overwhelming feeling of peace and tranquillity.

Therefore, even though she fought valiantly against it, Hinata was soon claimed by sleep, and a most enjoyable one at that. There, on the bed of deep green moss, the young girl slept more soundly than she had for several years in her own bed in the Hyuga mansion. Her most favourite dream also returned, of kissing Naruto under a starlit sky with the moon as their only witness. And in part, this was no longer merely a hopeful dream, the kiss actually having taken place about two days ago. Although, in her dream, the kiss continued forever, without the interruption of the fake ANBU under her father's control.

The dream went on until it to the Hyuga girl's great dismay began to fade, and she returned to the waking world once more. Yet, the great warmth she had felt in her sleep had not disappeared entirely, and as she soon found out, it was not entirely due to the sun's blissful light either. Hinata's eyes fluttered open and revealed to her that her face was barely an inch away from that belonging to the a certain whisker-marked blonde. The dream still in good memory, the lavender eyed girl blushed fiercely and even more so when she found that she was holding him in her arms as much as he was holding her.

The girl let out a soft squeal of surprise which also seemed to rouse the number one hyperactive nin from his sleep. Naruto stirred and soon his eyes fell open, revealing to him the blushing face of a very pretty girl. The boy blinked, and blinked again, as if convinced that the lovely sight in front of him was in fact a wonderful dream, or maybe an extremely well performed genjutsu.

"Hm…Hinata?" he asked incredulously as recognition dawned. His bare mentioning of her name caused the shy girl to scream and try to push the boy away from her, even though her heart wished for nothing else than this moment to last.

"Kyaaaaaa! N-n-naruto-kun, I-I'm s-so sorry!" she exclaimed and got into a sitting position with her head cast down in embarrassment. Naruto, still lying down, looked extremely confused.

"Ne, ne, Hinata why am I sleeping out here with you?" he asked as he sat himself up "I mean, what happened to the dungeon and that bastard Hiashi? How did I get here?"

The boy didn't remember all too much of what had happened since the Hyugas had started their first torture session on him, though he had a faint memory that the baka-kitsune had been talking to him. That and the few things he could remember from the torture both seemed so unreal now as he sat on the soft ground, talking to the blue haired girl sitting in front of him. Hinata, with her eyes still downcast, began to fill the whiskered boy in on what she knew.

"Um… the jounin t-teachers and Neji-niisan b-broke into the mansion last night…" she began "I-I guess they'd heard a-about… what happened… a-and c-came to rescue us both." The girl's soft tone as well as her stuttering made it somewhat difficult for Naruto to hear what she told him, so he leaned forward a bit, reducing the space between them.

"S-so they took us out," the lavender eyed girl continued, quite oblivious that Naruto was closing in on her "a-and when they b-brought us to the village g-gate, y-you were in a really bad shape. Shizune-san h-had to work a lot on you, a-and I helped o-out a b-bit a-also…" She spoke the last part as quietly as she could, but Naruto still picked it up, his eyes growing somewhat in surprise.

"F-finally, Kakashi-sensei s-said that we h-had to leave Konoha, so I c-carried you since y-you where u-unconscious and…" The final sentence was left unfinished as Hinata lifted her gaze slightly and finally noticed Naruto's closeness. The boy had his eyes fixed on her, the blue orbs filled with both sadness and happiness beyond description.

"You…did that for me, Hinata-chan?" he asked her, seemingly almost unable to believe that anyone would. Hinata nodded, unable to form any other response under the spell of the boy's beautiful azure eyes. And she almost fainted as Naruto closed the last space between them, and embraced her.

"I'm sorry, Hinata…" he said, tears beginning to flow down his cheeks "I'm sorry you had to go through this."

The Hyuga girl was paralyzed from shock. Both from once again being so close to the blonde nin, but also that _he_ was begging for _her_ forgiveness. To Hinata, it should obviously be the other way around. _She _had been the reason for everything going awry, had it not been for her, Naruto wouldn't have been imprisoned or tortured to near death, and they wouldn't be in exile for life either. If anyone was to apologise, it should be her.

"N-naruto-kun…please stop…" she said, tears of her own starting to well up "it's not your fault… it's mine… just b-because I'm so selfish…" Naruto broke away slightly, though just so he could look the girl in the eyes.

"Hinata, you're the least selfish person I know," he said with absolute conviction. "I'm the selfish one," he continued, and began to distance himself more and more from the timid girl in front of him "monsters like me weren't meant to be happy, or even exist; I think I know that now." He gave a sad chuckle "You know, that time, I actually thought that, maybe, it didn't have to be like that…"

"What time?" Hinata blurted out. It was killing her to see her love was battering his ego to dust, and she felt she had to stop it somehow. Naruto smiled at her, although it still only conveyed the boy's final resignation to a cruel fate.

"When you said you loved me."

By those words, Hinata couldn't bare the sight of her Naruto in such a state any more. So she leapt on top of him, pinning the boy to the ground, and kissed him passionately. Naruto was completely stunned at first by this incredibly bold move from the usually so shy and timid Hyuga. But he soon gave into the feeling, returning the kiss. Much like the first time in Konoha, the two lost themselves to each other, until everything around them had turned into a grey mist, and they were alone in their private realm of love. After almost ten minutes, Hinata slowly took her lips from Naruto's, and gazed deep into the boy's eyes.

"D-don't say such things," she whispered "d-don't say that you're a m-monster, or not meant f-for love. Y-you are kind and gentle and w-worry about others, a monster would never do that, r-right? A-and I-I… will a-always… l-love you…"

She kissed him again, and thus they past their day in each others arms enjoying each others warmth, not even noticing the hunger clawing their insides, until the sun began to set. They ate what food they had which didn't need cooking; Hinata still afraid that fire might draw the attention of any pursuers on their trail. Hinata knew that their food was very sparse, yet this one time, they should eat themselves full, as it was probably the last real meal they would have in a while. They finished eating and cleaned up whatever trace they had left of their passing, before cuddling up in each others arms, and drifted of to sleep.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"We can't go back, right?" Naruto whispered.

"N-no, if we did, Father w-would want to k-kill you…"

"They couldn't do that; Tsunade-obaachan wouldn't let them."

"B-but then they w-would grind Konoha to dust to g-get to you. A l-lot of people w-would die because of us." Naruto sighed.

"So, what are we going to do now?" he asked after a few minutes.

The two lovers lay in the same spot as they had fallen asleep in, and watched through the trees the sky which had once again begun to light up. They still held each other close, perhaps afraid that the world would shatter if they were to let go. This early morning had been spent in silence up till Hinata's open pondering had brought them back to the cruel world in which they were.

"W-well, Shizune-san said we c-could go to Sunagakure…" Naruto thought this over.

"That sounds okay" he decided, and tried to get up. The lavender eyed girl's firm grip around his body made that impossible though. She smiled shyly at him.

"L-let's stay like this…j-just a little longer." Naruto looked a bit puzzled but didn't object.

"Sure, it's not like we're in a hurry…" Suddenly, a rustling in the nearby bushes startled the two into jumping up in a defensive stance. Naruto took place in front of the timid Hinata, who had begun to fear the worst.

'_Oh no, we shouldn't have stayed here for so long!'_ she mentally berated herself_ 'It must be a search party Father sent after us, if they find us now, they'll probably kill Naruto-kun on sight!'_

The bushes rustled louder now, indicating that whatever was making the noise it was coming closer. And without warning, the bloated head of a huge toad emerged, causing Hinata to call out in surprise, and was son followed by the rest of its body, on which sat a white haired man in around his fifties. The Hyuga girl had a distinct feeling of recognition, but her blonde lover erased all doubts when he lowered his stance and broke into a huge grin.

"Ero-sennin!" he called out, waving at the newly arrived toad-hermit.

"Naruto? What are you doing out here?"

"Ah, well it's like this, first, me and Hinata… mmph?" Hinata blushingly put her hand over Naruto's mouth.

"U-um, what N-naruto-kun is t-trying to say is that Tsunade-sama h-has sent us on a mission." Naruto, in a rare moment of insight, nodded his head.

"Myeah, a miphion!" he confirmed behind Hinata's hand.

"Oh?" the white haired man said, only slightly suspicious, before he broke out into a huge grin "So Naruto, I see you've finally hooked up a girl, eh?" The girl in question yelped and leapt away from the blonde nin, staring at the ground with small wisps of steam pouring out of her ears. Naruto, on the other hand, smiled one of his very rare, genuine smiles, the one where always were present a hint of sadness.

"Yeah, it kinda just… happened, I guess" he said. Hinata jerked her face from the ground and placed her pale eyes on the boy.

"N-naruto-kun…" she whispered. Jiraiya looked slightly stunned at first but his puzzled countenance rapidly changed back into an even bigger grin, shortly followed by bellowing laughter.

"HAHAHA…you know, haha, I was joking, but from the look of it, you two aren't." He glanced at Hinata who was still doing a good impression of a tomato and laughed some more. "You two are really cute together; just don't do anything I would do, if you know what I mean" the toad hermit hinted with a wink. Both Naruto and Hinata looked puzzled by that comment. Jiraiya grinned and urged his toad on.

"Well, I'll see you two when you get back, I have to go and talk to Tsunade now. See ya!" With that he disappeared into the forest. Hinata looked after the quite eccentric man until he could no longer be seen, and then turned back to Naruto.

"N-naruto-kun, what d-did he mean with that c-comment, 'don't do anything I would'?" she asked.

"Dunno, but Ero-sennin always say stuff like that." He shrugged. "Maybe we should get going?" Hinata didn't find any reason not to, so a few minutes later they were on their way through the deep forest of the Fire country.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The birds were singing outside the Hokage's office. A window had been left open to allow for a gentle breeze to pass through. The warm huff of air barely even disturbed the ever growing piles of forms and letters lying on Tsunade's desk. Tsunade herself was struggling with one of the mission requests in front of her. For some reason, she found it incredibly hard to concentrate.

'_It's too damn quiet.'_ She heaved a sigh of resignation and slumped back into her chair and took a peak at her watch. She sighed again. At this time of day Naruto should have been inside her office and causing hell. Sighing a third time, she grabbed for her always present sake bottle.

"Yo, Tsunade!" The sound had come through the open office window and it almost made the blonde Hokage drop her precious bottle. She quickly found herself though and instantly recognised the voice.

"Jiraiya? Dammit, don't sneak up on people like that!" she barked. The toad hermit raised an eyebrow.

'_That's strange; I've never been able to sneak up on her before, she's always been so alert, something must really be bothering her…'_ The middle aged man jumped through the open window and went to stand in front of the desk. Tsunade poured herself a cup of her favourite liquor.

"So how come you're back already?" she asked and took a sip "I thought you were going to keep track on Akatsuki?"

"I did, but I lost track on them in the south, they just disappeared without leaving a trace. So I decided I might as well come back and give Naruto that training he's been after..." By the mentioning of the blonde boy's name, Tsunade's face saddened noticeably. Not noticeable enough for Jiraya though.

"But since you've sent him and that Hyuga girl on a mission I guess I can wait until they get back," he continued "I could use a break anyway."

"Mission? What mission?" Tsunade said quizzically. Jiraiya looked somewhat confused.

"You sent them on a mission, right? At least that's what they told me when I met them in the forest." The blonde woman raised an eyebrow.

'_So that's it, good thinking you two - don't trust anyone. Must've been Hinata though, Naruto is as trusting as a puppy dog.'_ She smiled inwardly but then heaved another sad sigh.

"They won't be back" she said and once again bringing the white cup to her lips. The white haired sannin looked quizzically at her.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"What I said, they won't be coming back." The Hokage downed the remaining sake in one gulp and after she had poured herself another, began to retell the events of the previous two days. Jiraiya stood silent during the whole narration, though he shook from anger when Tsunade told of what the jounin had found inside the Hyuga dungeons and his eyes moistened as she retold the farewell at the Konoha gate.

"And that's how it is" Tsunade concluded, with another gulp of sake. Jiraiya hummed thoughtfully.

"I really missed a lot didn't I?" he said after a while "And this is really troublesome."

"I say," the blonde woman agreed "I had to choose between civil war and destroying two kids' lives…"

"That's not what I meant," Jiraiya interrupted "this means Naruto is out there somewhere, unprotected, _and with the Akatsuki on his tail_!" he slammed his fist in the table to make his point clear to the increasingly drunk woman. And it worked, the tipsy Hokage immediately sobered up at the revelation that the Akatsuki might be hounding after Naruto this very minute.

"Shit!" she exclaimed.

"Yup," Jiraiya said and went over to the window "it seams my time off has been cancelled." Tsunade stood up.

"Where are you going?" she called out at him.

"Well, you said Shizune tipped them about going to the Sand, right? I'm just gonna trail them and see to it that they get there safely. See ya!" He jumped outside and soon disappeared among the rooftops.

The Hokage sighed and went to fetch another of her white bottles.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The landscape gradually changed from green and lush forests to brown and barren cliffs. After having dashed and leapt for several hours, two shinobi in their lower teens now stood at the edge of the country of the Wind, a white-hot wasteland consisting almost solely by shifting dunes of sand. Over this country the sun shone so unmercifully that the air itself seemed to boil, blurring everything in an infernal haze.

"I-I think w-we should rest for a while, N-naruto-kun" Hinata proposed and wiped the sweat of her forehead, even at the country's edge reigned an unholy heat. The orange clad nin nodded.

"Yeah, I think so too, Hinata. I'm getting kinda hungry too by the way."

They found a spot under a small tree which gave them some shade and took out some of the food. From the semi-serious state he had been in when he woke up, Naruto had gradually returned to his standard personality, and was now loudly wining over why Shizune 'didn't pack any instant ramen, dattebayo!' Hinata found it quite odd that the blonde shifted personalities in this way, but decided not to comment on it. After all, since she was going to be with him for quite some time, she reckoned she would find out soon enough anyway.

After a one and a half hours break, during which they ate and took a small siesta, the two shinobi prepared themselves for entering the hellish desert. In their backpack they found a map of the Wind country from Shizune with a red ring around a large area some ten miles across with a small text message that said: 'Somewhere here'. Naruto and Hinata exchanged glances.

"It's not very specific" Naruto said bluntly.

"N-no…" Hinata agreed. Naruto took another peak at the map and shrugged.

"Meh, might as well try it out. We'll probably have no problem finding that village once we're in the area" he said confidently and put the sheet of paper back into the backpack which he swung up over his shoulder. "Okay, let's go!" he exclaimed with great anticipation as they took their first steps into the blazing hell of dust and wind.

The first couple of hours were completely uneventful. The foxy boy and his short haired companion moved swiftly through the desert. Well, as swiftly as can be expected on ground which tends to move below your feet, not to mention through such an unholy heat. Nevertheless, they moved forward in the general direction of the place marked out on the map.

However, a most treacherous property of any desert, especially those composed entirely by sand and dunes, is that there are no landmarks whatsoever. And when a huge spotlight of a couple of million terawatts fries the very earth, even the best navigational sense will be thrown into disarray. Unfortunately, neither Hinata nor Naruto had that great sense of location to begin with. Therefore, after another few hours, they were forced to admit to themselves that they were lost.

It was now mid afternoon and Hinata in particular was struggling against the exhaustion which threatened to overpower her, all the time falling behind her blonde companion. Naruto, with his as always nearly endless stamina, seemed to come along much better; he would however always wait up for Hinata whenever she had problem keeping up. As the white hot sun continued to fire its ultraviolet rays at them, the timid Hyuga girl finally gave in and collapsed to the ground with a small groan.

"Hinata!" Naruto leapt to her side and turned her onto her back.

"N-naruto… it's so hot…" she responded in a whisper.

Naruto began to panic. What if she died here? It would be entirely his fault! He frantically began to search for the water flask in the backpack. Once he found it, Naruto gently lifted the blue haired girl's head and put the open bottle to her lips. Hinata drank several mouthfuls before her thirst had been quenched and she was refreshed. She put her lavender eyes on the blue ones keeping careful watch over her.

"Are you okay now, Hinata?" the owner of the sky blue eyes asked.

"Um, y-yes, I am" she answered while a blush once again crept over her cheeks.

"You sure?" Naruto inquired, seemingly not entirely convinced. Hinata's blush deepened.

"Y-yes, I'm all o-okay now" she said and gave the blonde a reassuring smile. _'Naruto-kun worries over me so much…'_ she thought blissfully.

"Okay…um," the girl's smile made Naruto blush as well "here, I'll help you up" he offered her his hand and pulled her up. When she stood, Hinata momentarily lost her balance and fell into Naruto's arms.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out, her eyes wide in horror.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…!" he quickly apologised, although he wasn't entirely sure what he had done.

"Look behind you!"

Naruto spun around with Hinata still in his protective embrace and beheld a most terrifying sight. By the near horizon a dark cloud was growing swiftly and rapidly approaching them. The blonde nin soon realised that this was no ordinary storm with rain and thunder though, for instead of water, this cloud seemed to carry a huge load of dust and sand.

"What's that!?" he called out as the strong winds driving the cloud reached them and began to howl like a pack of wolves.

"It's a sandstorm, Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled over the steadily increasing wind.

'_You gotta be kidding me…' _Naruto thought in resignation. Somehow it seemed to him that the two of them had been cursed by bad luck.

Suddenly the entirety of the storm fell upon them with all of its elemental fury, blurring out everything with grey dust and painfully lashed at them with wind and sand. The two teens tried in vain to block out the sand which began to fill their mouths and noses, threatening to suffocate them. Naruto and Hinata grabbed hold of each other so as to not lose the other in the storm.

'_Please…' _Hinata prayed to any kami who would listen _'please don't let us die here…'_

Yet her prayers seemed to go unheeded, for if anything, the sandstorm only intensified. Eventually the two lovers fell to the ground, the boy over the girl so as to give her what protection he could. And there they lay, awaiting their seemingly unavoidable demise.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The moon shone cold and bright over the country of the Wind, causing the sea of sand below it to glow eerily. A lonely wind sighed through the desert as three dark shapes moved swiftly over the pearly white sand. Where they moved, they barely left a footprint and all the animals of the night wisely moved well out of their way. The three were clad in heavy coats to fend of the night and wind's biting chill, a well as bandages and cloth which kept the sand out. As they reached one of the higher sand dunes, the trio momentarily stopped.

"Everything looks clear in this area" one said to his two companions. The other two nodded.

"We should go back to Suna then" another, female this time, voice said.

"Wait, what's that?" the third said and pointed. The others followed where his finger pointed and saw a shadow lying at the base of the dune.

"Dunno," the female said and pulled forth her kunai "let's check it out shall we?" Her companions nodded and they all nimbly leapt down to where the shadows lay. As they came closer they were all able to discern the shapes of two people lying half buried in the sand, unmoving.

"Must've been caught in that storm earlier" the first sand nin commented.

"Pity," the other male said "that girl looks kinda nice, a bit young perhaps but still…" The female whacked him over the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"For being a perv on duty again" the female said casually and went down on her knees to get a better look at the bodies.

"Anyways these kids aren't dead" she continued "just unconscious." The first one brought an axe from somewhere under his clothing.

"Not for long they won't" he said.

"No can do, Ryou" the female said "these are leaf nin, we're allies, remember?" The one called Ryou didn't lower his axe. He had never really liked the elders' decision to ally with the weak Konoha.

"They'd never miss one or two, Himawari" he said coldly. Himawari narrowed her eyes at him.

"_I'm_ team leader, and I say we shall honour this alliance" she stated firmly "you got a problem with my leadership then take it up with Gaara." By the mentioning of the fear inspiring soon-to-be Kazekage, Ryou flinched noticeably.

"I…I don't have no problem with it…" he grumbled and hid his axe away under his coat.

"Good," Himawari said and then turned her attention to the third party-member "Hayabusa, help me carry these two" she instructed as she heaved the blue haired girl over her shoulder.

"Yes ma'am" Hayabusa said and went to pick up the blonde kid. Soon the trio once again dashed away over the moonlit sand, as always leaving with only a faint whisper in the wind to tell of their passing.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

_To be continued…_

AN: Not too much tragedy in this chapter, I can only take so much myself, so I decided to make a little lighter one which I hope came out all right. I'm not really sure about the NaruHina interaction though, any criticism or suggestions are welcome.

And, in response to Demon of Konoha's review, I got this idea for my first omake, hope you like it.

OMAKE: _What ever happened to Akatsuki?_

"That's not what I meant," Jiraiya interrupted "this means Naruto is out there somewhere, unprotected, _and with the Akatsuki on his tail!_" he slammed his fist in the table to make his point clear to the increasingly drunk woman. Tsunade barely flinched though. Instead she opened one of her desk drawers and produced a small postcard.

"I think you'll find that the Akatsuki won't be very dangerous for quite some time" she said and handed the card to her old team-mate. Jiraiya took the postcard and began to read on its backside.

_Sunny greetings from Hawaii!_

_We've taken our annual organisation trip to Hawaii this year, so unfortunately we won't be able to terrorize you for a few months. Hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience for you. Please tell Naruto-kun that we haven't forgotten about him and will come after him as soon as our vacation has ended._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Uchiha Itachi and Akatsuki_

_PS: If you run into my little brother, show him this card and tell him I'm much closer to reviving our clan than he ever will, HAHA!_

_U I and A_

After he finished reading the quite… unusual letter, Jiraiya flipped it to look at the picture. It showed Itachi sitting on the beach in the company of three scantily clad women in their early twenties and wearing a smug grin. A bit to the left one could see Kisame using his Samehada sword as a surfing board. Back on the beach sat Sasori and Deidera, the former building elaborate sand castles, and the later entertaining himself by blowing them up. A few others could also be seen, like a very plant like member who seemed content with working on his tan (or perhaps photosynthesis), and below a palm tree stood the shadowy leader, his face obscured by the tree's shade. All the Akatsuki present wore bathing shorts with the Akatsuki pattern of red clouds on them.

Jiraiya stared at the photo for several minutes, not quite sure of what disturbed him the most, the very fact that the obscure organisation would send a letter, or the eccentric nature of said letter. Eventually Jiraiya came to a conclusion.

"Er, I think I'll be trailing those kids anyway" he said a bit uncertainly and shuddered as he took one final look at the postcard "but first I think I need a drink…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AN: Okay what did you think? That's my first omake so I understand if you think it didn't come out too good.

Anyways, see you next update!

Ausir


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